Residents of Vancouver, Washington awoke Wednesday morning to find antisemitic flyers blaming Jews for the COVID-19 pandemic littering doorsteps, businesses and parked cars in their neighborhoods. The Vancouver Police department and the Pacific Northwest chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) received numerous reports from locals regarding the flyers, and a police investigation has been opened.
The flyer also supposedly included white supremacist language and a link to a website containing content surrounding conspiracy theories of the ongoing pandemic and Jewish People.
The ADL reports that the group responsible has been identified as an antisemitic extremist group and that similar flyers have been discovered throughout the country, including both larger cities such as Miami and Denver but also in more rural areas such as Idaho and Vermont over the last two months.
Incidents of antisemitism have been on the rise globally in recent years, and the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency recently released a report that 2021 was the most antisemitic year in the last decade. Less than one month ago a gunman attacked a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas and held four people hostage for 11 hours.
If you discover flyers like these or other antisemitic messages in your area, call your local law enforcement or ADL office.